Koenigsegg Regera hybrid is a McLaren P1 and LaFerrari destroyer

Geneva Motor Show: If there’s one car to give the hybrid hypercar trio comprised the Ferrari LaFerrari, McLaren P1 and Porsche 918 a run for their money, it’s the Koenigsegg Regera.

The Regera has a staggering 1,100hp developed by a 5.0-litre twin-turbo V8. Smaller turbos have been used to decrease spooling time at the expense of horsepower, but that’s okay because there are three electric motors to add another 700hp.

In theory, then, the Regera hybrid has 1,800hp at its disposal – double that of the McLaren P1 and nearly double the GTR version. But Koenigsegg says the total is a more modest ‘over 1,500hp’ when both are working in tandem, presumably to keep things from melting into a puddle of molten metal.

So what happens when you combine that many horses with a car that has a kerb weight of 1,628kg? Forget a 0 to 62mph time, Koenigsegg says the Regera can do 0 to 250mph in less than 20 seconds. 93 to 155mph, meanwhile, takes 3.2 seconds.

Yet more craziness to mull over. Torque at peak is more than 2,000Nm, which again is double that of the LaFerrari. No wonder Koenigsegg is comfortable pointing out the fact the Regera will be the most powerful and fastest accelerating production car ever.

Rather than conventional gears, the Regera uses Koenigsegg Direct Drive Transmission (KDD for short) with only one gear. Power is pumped directly from the engine to the wheels, reducing drivetrain losses compared with a traditional transmission.

The hybrid element can run in electric-only, saving it from wasting fuel unnecessarily. There’s even a button that initiates Battery Drain Mode, which uses only electric power when it knows there is less than 50km to the next charging point or destination.

Hybrids usually pack extra weight and the Regera is no different, but the KDD system and battery only adds 88kg of weight compared with a seven-speed DCT transmission.

Other highlights include the world’s first active fully foldable, active, top-mounted rear wing, Dihedral Synchro Helix doors that can be opened with a button push or by a smartphone, active hydraulic suspension and active aerodynamics.

Up front are 397mm ventilated ceramic discs with 6-piston calipers, while the back gets 380mm discs with four-piston calipers. Rare is it to get discs nigh-on 40cm in diameter.

Just to put the cherry on this particularly drool-worthy pie, you can take the roof off and stow it in the boot for a bit of open-top motoring.

There’s no word on a price just yet, or other performance details for that matter, but we do know 80 cars will be built. That’s quite a lot for a car company that is said to have only made 115 vehicles.

Swedish manufacturer Koenigsegg has never produced more than one car at a time, but the Regera and Agera RS (also announced in Geneva) will change that. If both cars can live up to their claims, the hypercar crown could be in the bag.

Koenigsegg Regera pictures

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